Following the consultation on the subject of Day Centres and Care Homes, the decision was taken at the December 2016 Cabinet meeting to offer them to 3rd Parties to own and operate. The rationale for this was to avoid £4.1m ( capital and revenue costs) “for the ongoing property upgrades and urgent work that remains outstanding at these homes”. 

The places affected are:

Merrill House
Coleridge House
Arboretum House
Raynesway View
Bramblebrook House
Morleston Day Centre
Inspire Day Centre
Aspect Day Centre

At the time of the report there were 11 expressions of interest from external organisations.:

one was a private organisation, six were from Public Limited Companies, two were from Community Interests Companies, and two were from separate consortia of local charities

The recommendation was , that the Care Homes ( inc Morleston Day Centre) will be sold off, and that further work was required on the future for the Inspire and Aspect Day Centre.

Background 

At the Cabinet Meeting – Cllr Repton advised:

• the vast majority of Care Home capacity (94%) in Derby was already in private hands, so this transfer was not, in itself, unusual.
• the transfer process would be subject to a “triple lock”
  • All existing staff could transfer under TUPE regulations
  • Residents could stay in the care home for the rest of their life
  • There would be no extra costs for existing residents.

The proposal was generally supported across the Chamber; there was not much appetite for retaining them within the Council’s control.

Next Steps

A lot of work is still required for those “expressions of interest” to become viable business cases for the organisations involved. In the meantime,  “the care homes and day centres continue to need remedial works to ensure they meet current standards. Whilst ever the homes remain the Council’s ownership, the risks posed by not addressing these defects remain”. 

At present there are still more questions than answers for the prospective buyers

It will be interesting to see how any new owners will be able to run these homes / centres any cheaper than the Council, given the head-win of property refurbishment – unless they can bring together economies of scale with other activities that they deliver.

Time is of the essence to agree a contracted way forwards to avoid continuing anxiety for staff and residents.